Which domain to use for SE business listings?

[MozMan2]

For a first time, new website. I have a Barber shop in Hartford named "Dixie Cutters" with two domains, dixiecutters.com and barberhartford.com. Obviously the latter domain has two main keywords, barber and location...Hartford. So it would be better to use that and use a 301 redirect for dixiecutters.com to redirect to barberhartford.com.

Many online directories including SE listings on Google Places, BIng and Yahoo have already been set up withe domain "dixiecutters.com" and the email address info@dixiecutters.com.

If I choose to make barberhartford.com the primary domain with dixiecutters.com 301 redirecting to it....does this mean that I should then change the directory listings and more specifically, the SE business listings so that they have the primary domain listed (barbarhartford.com) with an email address like...info@barberhartford.com? Or can I leave all of this alone and keep as stated above without any SEO local consequences.

I know consistency is a big issue with NAP. I also know it's recommended to use an email address with your domain name in the SE business listings. If a 301 is in place, can I use dixiecutters.com in my listings?

[waqid]

If this is a real business with real long term plans I would use the branded domain name. This feels more professional and as a business owner I would rather be identified with my company name on the internet rather than city+service.com.

On the other hand you can use the keyword domain to have two listings on Google. Question is, are you will doing to put in the time!!!

[MozMan2]

Good stuff, you give a compelling argument. Right now there is no site up just a few months of Google Places, Bing and Yahoo. I am supposed to make the decision this weekend now I am confused about what to do.

Brand and consistency make a lot of sense and "WTF is that" sorta hits that home thanks for your help.

[EGOL]

Yelp is an authoritative domain and that enables it to defeat lots of small local sites who might be more relevant but not as authoritative.

However, I believe that if you can get a local listing in google, have some links from local business associations, local directories, chamber of commerce, your landlord, local service clubs, local tourism association..... some facebook action from people in your community... then I think that you have a chance to rank above them.

You might have a slightly better chance using a keyword domain, however if you already have an existing site with any history at all I would put all of my energy into that site.

These local SERPs usually are not so competitive - even if yelp is in there.

If it takes just a little longer to get a nonkeyword domain to better position then you have the strength of your brand working for you.

Lots of people do not think this way... they simply look for the easiest and fastest route to good rankings.  They might be better off in the long-run to spend a small amount longer and use the power of their brand and their position in the SERPs.

You want people to know who you are and not ask WTF is that?

[MozMan2]

A very interesting take you have, thank you for that perspective. Do you think that there would be a better chance of outranking yelp for their generic page titled,"Auto Repair+City" using a keyword domain?

[EGOL]

Most of my sites are keyword domains.  They used to be very powerful in the SERPs.  Now they still have a slight advantage but not an overwhelming advantage.

For a retail site, in my opinion, a keyword domain such as binoculars.com can have a very high conversion rate because visitors think that you are "the place" to by that category of product.  However, if I owned a brick and mortar business  I would use the name of my biz and not a keyword domain.

[MozMan2]

Thanks for your response. Not that is should make a difference in your response. The scenario above is fictitious and I should have stated that. The actual situation involves a website that is about to go up with two newly purchased domains. One is the brand name and the other is autorepair+city.com

The title tag and meta description are what people will see in the SERPS.. Don't you think that the url will be insignificant to those that are actually searching for the business name? Isn't a exact match domain like that desirable? Especially when trying to compete with sites like Yelp that may have a low page authority for that a particular term but a really high domain authority.

[EGOL]

I would place all of my efforts into dixiecutters.com and do nothing with barberhartford.com other than just hold it to keep competitors from using it.

This should not be an extremely competitive niche and if you focus all of your effort on one site you should be able to rank well.

If the name of your shop is dixiecutters and people drive by and see that on your sign, see that on your newspaper ads, talk to their friends about who is their barber.... Then when they search and see dixiecutters in the SERPs then will know who you are....

If they see barberhartford in the SERPs they will wonder who the heck is that?

Diluting your own brand - especially in a small market is not usually a good way to get the word out about your business.

[mjtaylor]

If you are going to make barberhartford your domain then yes, by all means 301 the old site, page by page to the new - in other words, do not simply redirect each page to the home page ... once that is done most of the link juice will pass to the barrberhartford domain,  but the wise move is to have the old links changed, wherever possible, to the new domain.

The email address is not important SEOwise, and I don't know what NAP means, but I strongly believe it is very important for branding to use your domain name. However, I also feel that it's fine to use a name such as DixieCutters as the 'print' and promotional domain name; whatever people will best remember.